Here are the 5 Most Reputable Companies

Harris Interactive, a New York custom market research firm, recently conducted its 14th annual Reputation Quotient Study. The report asked more than 14,000 people to select companies that are most visible to them on a daily basis. The respondents were then asked to rank the top 60 most visible companies by 20 attributes folded into 6 dimensions. Technology remains the highest-rated industry in corporate America, but there is a change at the top of the list.

The report is based on attributes such as admire and respect, trust, clear vision, growth prospects, high quality and supports good causes. These can all be difficult to find in major corporations. According to the RQ study, 44 percent say the overall reputation of corporate America is either poor or very poor, while only 28 percent say it is excellent or good. Twenty-three percent of respondents say the overall reputation is fair.

Robert Fronk, executive vice president of reputation management at Harris Interactive, explains in a statement, “The public seem to have become pragmatically realistic with their expectations of corporate America, and we characterize this year’s overall findings as the great muddling of corporate America.”